


A Smile Makes Everyone's Day Brighter

by Amber_Aglio



Category: RWBY
Genre: All the kids are actual kids, Alternate Universe - Elementary School, Fluff, I need to fix the tags some time when it's not 4 am, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:41:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23164897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amber_Aglio/pseuds/Amber_Aglio
Summary: You’re good with kids, they said. You’d make a great teacher, they said. Just his luck to be stuck with the craziest kids of all Remnant.Qrow teaches at a primary school. He loves it, don't get him wrong, but sometimes the kids' shenanigans can be... too much.And then things get worse when one day Marrow is picked up not by his mom, but by his very hot uncle Clover...
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Comments: 30
Kudos: 101





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The title is a loosely translated line from a Russian children's song :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a silly little self-indulgent story that was supposed to be a tiny drabble and then grew into this. Previously posted on my tumblr, I'm planning to continue it once Fair Game Week is over! (Because we need more cuteness and fluffy Fair Game in our lives).

The day was crazy. Absolutely, completely bonkers from the early morning when the first sleepy parents arrived at the Beacon primary school with their kids.

Honestly, Qrow should have expected something to go wrong when a very apologetic Tai turned up with his two girls and explained that Yang somehow managed to lose her shoe on the way to school. Apparently, he was too busy watching Ruby to notice how and when.

Yang herself seemingly found the entire thing hilarious, merrily hopping on one leg around the two adults. How she wasn’t cold in this chilly autumn weather, Qrow had no idea, but he quickly ushered both excited girls inside, throwing one last exasperated look at his former brother-in-law. If Tai doesn’t come to pick them up with spare shoes, he’ll have to think of something. But that’s… for later. He had more immediate problems to take care of.

“I’m queen of the castle!” rang loudly across the hallway and Qrow rushed to the classroom, already dreading what he will find there. He was met with the sight of Nora hoarding all the toys, pillows and blankets in a crude heap that apparently was supposed to be the castle. Qrow’s nieces were running around the “castle” and.. he actually wasn’t sure if they were supposedly protecting it or putting it under siege. 

At least Weiss was quietly drawing in the corner. Thank brothers for small mercies, or Qrow would have thought he got saddled specifically with all the loudest, most troublesome kids. Weiss and Ren were like a ray of warm sunlight in a storm….

Wait. 

Where is Ren?

Qrow looked around in slight panic until he heard the sound of crayons on paper somewhere from around the toy heap. Closer inspection revealed Ren sitting at the back of the castle, supporting the structure with his back and quietly drawing. Nora jumped up and down excitedly, jostling the fragile building, and Ren shifted a little so it wouldn’t collapse.

Qrow stared, amazed.

Well… That guy would make a fine teacher one day. He already got the important parts down.

Qrow looked at the large clock on the wall. The ridiculous bunny-shaped monstrosity mockingly pointed two carrots at 5 minutes till the official start of the day.

This was going to be a long one.

***

Qrow growled quietly as he scrubbed at his hands. Aren’t those paints supposed to be easy to remove? Then again, it was totally worth it - Jaune really has some artistic talent and just needed a little help and push for confidence. The drawing that cost Qrow his favorite shirt was proudly displayed on the board of the classroom - a bright blue and orange bird. Marrow was looking at it now, wagging his tail eagerly and Qrow sighed, deeming his hands clean enough, and came over to the boy, dropping onto the fluffy carpet beside him.

“Hey buddy. How’s your drawing going?”

Marrow scowled - it honestly looked so adorable that Qrow wanted to tease the kid more. Self-control, Qrow. Self-control. The sheet of paper Marrow was holding had blotches of paint in the same colors as Jaune’s - in a vaguely round shape that might or might not have been a bird.

“Well, that’s, uh… more contemporary art, I guess?” Qrow tried. Marrow just scowled more.

“He’s only ever seen it in a book because I told him! I saw a real one on the weekend!” He hesitated and added, “It looks a lot like the real one, though…”

“Oh?” Qrow gently took the messy painting to pin it on the board as well. Hey, not everyone can be an artist, doesn’t mean their efforts shouldn’t be appreciated. “Where did you see one? I doubt here in town.”

“Of course not! My uncle took me fishing this weekend. And there were lots of birds! They all flew away when I wanted to look at them closer, but uncle Clover said if you’re patient they can come really close. But what if I can’t wait? I really wanted to see the feathers!” Marrow gestured widely and unnecessarily, almost knocking out Harriet as she passed them to get another pencil from the box on Qrow’s table. Harriet retaliated by poking Marrow with a broken pencil and Qrow had to hurriedly direct them both in different directions before anyone else joined in the scuffle.

Qrow got back to wandering across the classroom, watching the kids draw and offering opinions and help and encouragement. Blake’s black-and-white drawings always gave him slight creeps - usually kids her age preferred bright colors. Still, he had to admit that she got more sociable since joining his class and he probably had to thank his nieces for that. Maybe being good with kids runs in the family?

Definitely, he concluded watching Ruby put an artistic red flower on Weiss’s perfectly textbook drawing. Or... maybe not, as the argument quickly escalated into a fencing match with brushes as swords.

As soon as he dealt with that (Weiss, of course, complained about the treatment and promised to tell her dad, which Qrow knew she would never actually do), he heard a loud munching sound.

That was worrying. Lunch wasn’t for another 20 minutes.

Also, there shouldn’t be anything edible in the class, unless one of the kids brought something with them. And unless you count the plants. ...okay, maybe there could be stuff that could be eaten, but there definitely wasn’t anything that was supposed to be eaten.

Qrow turned around only to find Nora munching on some wooden building blocks. Ren was sitting in front of her, head lowered - either asleep or just hiding from the situation. Both were a wise decision. Ruby was still hanging off Qrow’s arm shoving an adorable crow plushie in his face. Somewhere in the other corner of the room Qrow could hear Elm squishing Marrow.

You’re good with kids, they said. You’d make a great teacher, they said. Just his luck to be stuck with the craziest kids of all Remnant.

Qrow sneezed as the little feathers on Ruby’s plushie tickled his nose. He should ask Ozpin for a raise.

***

“I’m queen of the castle!”

If Qrow thought he would catch a break during lunch, he was severely mistaken. Because what can be better than a good old-fashioned food fight?

The canteen workers wisely retreated to the kitchen, and the other teachers quickly encouraged their students to finish eating and leave. Good. No extra casualties.

No one to help Qrow, either.

He ducked to dodge a sandwich masterfully thrown in his direction by… probably Yang. He just wanted to turn into his namesake and huddle somewhere atop a cabinet until this blew over. But… How does Glynda put it? He’s supposed to be “a responsible adult and a role model”?

Qrow had to execute a complicated dance to avoid being accidentally hit with any of the food. From what he could see, there were three camps, each centered around their own table, but with the food and kids flying everywhere it was hard to see who was siding with whom. He could make out Ruby and Harriet obviously engaged in a racing game, Nora standing on top of the table, holding a ladle triumphantly over her head… How was he supposed to settle that alone?!

Probably identifying and stopping the main culprits was his best bet. Nora was an obvious choice, so that was where Qrow headed.

He almost made it when Jaune’s excited voice sounded, “Sound the alarms! The enemy is approaching the castle!”

“Ah, yes!” Oscar must be in this group, too, if his proud stance in front of their “castle” and a pot on top of his head were anything to go by. “The evil wizard wants us to surrender, but we will not go down without a fight!” 

And Oscar pointed a wooden stick at him. That suspiciously looked like the pointer from their classroom. Qrow had to think fast. He reached into his pocket and fished out a slightly crumpled handkerchief. It was more gray than white at this point, but it would serve its purpose. He waved it in the air urgently.

“I do not wish to attack you!” Qrow announced dramatically. “I merely wish to speak with your, um. Queen?”

The kids exchanged glances and nods and eventually Ren announced,

“You may approach. Leave your weapons with the guards.”

Qrow did not have anything that could be considered a weapon, but Jaune was looking at him expectantly and somewhere behind them Marrow and Ruby screamed in perfect sync and he was running _out of time_. Qrow patted his pockets and found a pen that he obediently handed to the kids, which seemed to satisfy them.

As soon as he was close enough to Nora, he easily reached up and picked her up despite the loud protests.

“Okay, fun time is over, we need to get back to the classroom. You can build castles all you want there.” Qrow put Nora down and that was a critical mistake - unlike him, she was still armed and took this chance to hit him with the ladle. Just under the knee. Hard.

Qrow would like to say that he only went down because he wasn’t expecting it. He would not be entirely dishonest there, because he _wasn’t_ expecting it.

He also wasn’t expecting the amount of raw power that Nora possessed. _Or_ that the strength of her swing would make her also hit the table, which still had the large teapot full of tea. Just my luck, thought Qrow. Just my luck.

The teapot flew off the table, about to land all its contents right on Nora, who was still spinning from her wild swing and could neither see it nor protect herself. Qrow desperately kicked one leg out and damn, it was the same leg that Nora hit, maybe not his brightest idea - and kicked the teapot mid-flight. He was actually sure it would land on him this time, that would have been a logical continuation of this day. However, by some miracle, it landed just to his right. Tea spilled everywhere, but at least Qrow avoided getting his face smashed in by a teapot.

Qrow winced, feeling the still-warm liquid seep into the fabric of his shirt and trousers. Nora turned around at the sound of the bang and the boys seemed to be watching him, too. Everything seemed to grow quiet suddenly as the rest of the kids gathered around to watch their defeated teacher. So much for dignity.

“What is going on here?” Ah. He hadn’t hit rock bottom yet. Again just his luck, Glynda decided to show up. 

Ruby laughed nervously and she and Yang moved to stand in front of Qrow to shield him from her gaze. Qrow appreciated the sentiment, he really did, but now there was no way to avoid a talking-to from Glynda regarding his incompetence and him being a pushover with the kids. Great.

“Nothing, Ms. Goodwitch!” Ruby said brightly. “We were just about to go to class!”

Glynda didn’t seem convinced. Obviously. Her gaze turned more concerned, however, when Qrow finally got up and circled around his nieces with a slight limp.The wet clothing clung to his body and Qrow wistfully thought he should stop forgetting to bring a change of clothes to keep at school for emergencies. 

“Yeah, what they said,” he offered with a stoic smile. “They were just about to clean all this up and go back, isn’t that right, kids?”

If looks could kill, he would have been a pile of dust. Maybe that wouldn’t have been so bad, actually… The kids obviously weren’t excited about _cleaning up_ , and Qrow knew he would have to do most of the heavy lifting. Glynda sighed and adjusted her glasses.

“Make sure you do that,” she said and the kids looked down guiltily. Maybe they weren’t that afraid of Qrow, but there was no student (or teacher) in this school who didn’t fear Glynda Goodwitch.

Qrow looked around the mess that the canteen became. Oh, this was going to be a long, long day.


	2. Chapter 2

By the end of the day, Qrow was exhausted. More than usual. He was also still wearing clothes stained in tea and paint, his leg was hurting and he also had to apologize to the canteen workers and will probably have to explain what happened to Ozpin and Glynda. Not to mention he still had to fix all the stuff that required fixing - honestly, how a bunch of small children could be so destructive?

All in all, as long as the day had been, he wasn’t exactly looking forward to the end of it.

Right now, Qrow was standing in the hallway, watching over the kids as they were collected by their parents. He folded his arms self-consciously, not wanting to be judged for his dishevelled appearance. Probably too late for that, though - Weiss, as usual, left precisely on time with her older sister Winter who threw a disdainful look at the stains on Qrow’s shirt and hastily led Weiss away. Well screw her - he’d like to see her try and deal with a dozen of ten-year-olds.

…on second thought, she’ll probably have them marching in sync within 10 minutes. Uh. No, thanks.

More screams reached his ears. Can’t a guy catch a break here? Off to the side some older boy was holding Marrow in a headlock that looked far from friendly. Qrow vaguely remembered the guy from Glynda’s complaining - didn’t he also bully the faunus girl from her class? That’s right, Qrow thought as he approached the two. Cardin. That’s the guy’s name.

“Hey, pal!” Qrow called out and Cardin immediately let go of the other boy. “What’s going on here?”

“Nothing!” Cardin replied defensively. “We’re just playing around, isn’t that right, Marrow?”

Marrow looked uncertain and Qrow hated that with passion. He placed one hand on Marrow’s shoulder and moved to place himself slightly between the two kids.

“That’s not exactly what it looked like. But I’m sure Marrow has _his own_ opinion on what it was, hmm?” Qrow said calmly even though what he wanted to do the most was shake all the bullshit out of Cardin. That doesn’t work, he had to remind himself.

Marrow mumbled, “He was bothering me…” Qrow sighed. Not “bullying” or “harassing”, but he’ll take what he can. He squeezed Marrow’s shoulder in support and smiled at the kid, placing himself further between the boys.

“Is that so? Oh, and why, pray tell, did you think that was a good idea?” Qrow stared at Cardin with his best strict stare. All those hours of practice in front of the mirror must have amounted to something, because Cardin withered and looked a lot less intimidating than before.

“He didn’t mind! I didn’t do anything wrong!” Cardin said defensively. Qrow just continued watching him for a few minutes, making the older kid squirm uncomfortably.

“Well, from what Marrow said, that’s not true, isn’t it?” Some other students started gathering around and Qrow could feel Marrow’s growing unease, so he decided to cut the conversation short for now. “I suppose you’re just not that invested in the next month’s field trip, are you?”

“What?” Cardin whipped his head up, embarrassment momentarily forgotten. “You can’t do that!”

“I’m afraid it’s the other way around, kid.” Qrow turned around, guiding Marrow away. “You’ll find it’s you who cannot bully others. And I assure you, your homeroom teacher will know about this, too!”

Cardin was left to stand, frozen in place, while Qrow bent slightly to whisper in Marrow’s ear, “You okay, Marrow?”

One thing Qrow will never get tired of is how fast children’s moods can change. And Marrow was a prime example; the boy’s fluffy tail started wagging uncontrollably as Marrow’s bright eyes looked adoringly at Qrow. 

“That was so cool, Mr Branwen! Cardin was so scared, and you were all strict and like - bam! You’re banned! And…”

Qrow suddenly felt like a fake. He… hadn’t exactly done anything. Even the school trip thing - he’d have to discuss it with Oz or Glynda, and probably still would need to talk to Cardin and maybe his parents. And regardless, despite the possible consequences to Cardin, there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t just take his frustration out on Marrow again, or some other student.

“Hey, Marrow.. If he or anyone else ever bothers you again, tell me, alright? Or if you see him bothering anyone else, call me.” He interrupted Marrow’s tirade. “now, where’s your mom? She’s probably looking for you.”

Marrow nodded readily at the first part, but then just as quickly shook it, “Oh, my mom isn’t here! My uncle Clover is picking me up today!”

Qrow scrambled around his brains for the vaguely familiar name. “Oh! The, uh, the one who took you fishing and showed you the bird?” 

Marrow once again nodded so hard Qrow worried his head might fall off along with the furiously wagging tail. Qrow smiled - looks like this is someone’s favorite uncle. Well, cool uncles are something he respected.

“Go on, then. You shouldn’t keep him waiting, right? You probably have lots to do together.” Qrow finally let go of Marrow’s shoulder and gently directed him towards the lockers.

“Yup! We’re going to the park, and then to get something to eat, and uncle Clover promised we’d go on another trip this weekend…”

Qrow couldn’t help the chuckle as Marrow’s voice faded away and the boy himself disappeared into the crowd to get his shoes and coat.

…Oh dammit, he completely forgot that Yang only has one shoe. Shit, shit, shit, he was supposed to look for something she could use in case Tai - and isn’t he late already? - didn’t have the time to drop by their house to get new shoes. Even a slipper would do, but Qrow can’t let her go barefoot. She’ll probably step on broken glass, or get bitten by a bee, or…

Qrow’s rising panic was interrupted by the familiar rushed steps as Tai burst through the school doors, a pair of small boots in hand.

“I’m here! I’m here.” Tai waved to Qrow with the shoes. “Sorry, I almost forgot about the shoes…”

Qrow rolled his eyes - of course it would be something like this, but at least that meant Qrow wouldn’t have to go urgently looking for spare footwear at the school. One less thing to worry about… He saw them out and watched fondly as Ruby and Yang said their goodbyes and dragged their father out of the door. Literal sunshines, the lot of them. Maybe Qrow should make some time in his schedule to visit them - it’s been ages since he got to talk to Tai as just friends and not as a teacher and a father. Still smiling and making plans for the future, Qrow turned to go back. 

You know what is the greatest enemy of humanity? Stairs. And probably the most vicious of them are the single steps that you never notice and that serve no other purpose than to make people trip. And just Qrow’s luck, there was one right in front of him.

Just Qrow’s luck, he wasn’t looking where he was going despite technically being aware of the step’s existence.

Just Qrow’s luck, he slipped on it with the same foot that Nora hit with the ladle several hours ago.

Qrow found himself falling, eyes widening in the too-late realization that he was going down for the second time that day. 

Only the painful impact never came. Through the adrenaline still pounding in his head from that single moment of free-fall, he felt something holding his arm firmly. It pulled, making him stand upright again, and Qrow’s gaze drifted to the point of contact, to a hand holding onto his bicep and then along a muscled arm to a rather amused face of a man he’d never seen before.

And okay, that was really unfair, because that man was wearing a pale green button-down with the sleeves rolled up. It emphasized both the arms and the bright teal eyes that took a light shade of concern the longer Qrow stayed unresponsive.

“Are you alright? You’re not hurt, are you?” The stranger looked him up and down with kind eyes and Qrow felt his cheeks heating up as he remembered his stained and rumpled clothing. Shit. So much for a good first impression.

He quickly extracted himself from the man’s warm grip and coughed to cover the awkwardness. “I’m fine. It’s just… been a long day.”

The stranger smiled easily and brightly, “Yeah, I bet it was.” Before Qrow could start feeling offended, the stranger added with surprising sincerity, “You’re a natural with kids. I know my boy can be a handful, can’t imagine what it must be like with more than a dozen.”

Something almost clicked in Qrow’s head, and a moment later a light bulb went off in his head as they heard a loud shout “Uncle Clover!” and a small body collided with the green-eyed man. To Clover’s honor, he didn’t even stumble, taking the sudden tackle in stride.

“Thanks for taking care of him. I saw how you dealt with that other kid.” 

Qrow rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, feeling awkward. “Just doing my job…” he chuckled, trying to shrug the weird feeling off.

“Yeah, right,” Clover seemed unconvinced and gifted Qrow with another brilliant cocky smile. “You’re a great teacher, Mr Branwen, if what Marrow’s been telling me about you is any indication.”

Qrow was about to argue but Marrow butted in, “Yup! Mr Branwen is the best!”

Clover tossed a cocky triumphant smirk Qrow’s way and stood on one knee to zip Marrow’s jacket higher. “See? The kids now best.”

“They don’t! They really don’t!” Qrow wanted to scream, but he just watched awkwardly as Clover got up, the muscles flexing slightly with the movement.

“I suppose we’ll see you again tomorrow, Mr Branwen?” Clover asked.

“Huh?” Qrow tore his eyes from the guy’s arms. Why was he even looking at them?

“I’ll be picking Marrow up all week while his mom is out of town,” Clover patiently explained.

“Oh. Then, right, of course you will see me. Was there something you want to talk about?” Qrow mentally shook himself to stop spacing out. He must be more tired than he thought.

“I’m sure we can find plenty of interesting topics,” Clover winked at him, but before Qrow could fully process it, added. “For now though, I should get this guy to the park as I promised. Goodbye, Mr Branwen!” 

And with that they were gone, leaving Qrow to process the conversation.

Maybe he was lucky in some things, after all.

His sister wasn’t around to tease him mercilessly about today’s humiliation.

Also, why did it look like this Clover guy was flirting with him?!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tuesday came, and for some reason all Qrow could think of was the handsome stranger he'd met the day before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I still have no idea where this is going, but! New chapter! Mostly because this is silly and self-indulgent enough that I don't proofread it much, and I needed something I could do quickly.  
> I promise I'm not dead, just... life happening, so I couldn't write much.  
> Enjoy!

The next day started a little less chaotic. No lost shoes, no lost kids, and barely two scuffles before lessons started. A reasonable, calm day. 

Qrow, however, was a mess. 

The stranger – no, Clover – no, Marrow’s uncle – kept popping up in his thoughts with his ridiculous cocky smile and even more ridiculous distaste for long sleeves despite the chilly autumn weather and the simply preposterous idea that Qrow was a person worthy of praise and attention.

Qrow found himself having imaginary discussions with this Clover. Each break he would absentmindedly watch the kids, averting disasters and cleaning up while his mind would be focused on speeches explaining, in great detail, why Clover’s opinion was deeply flawed.

His musings were almost always interrupted before Clover could say anything in his defence, which was convenient, because Qrow had too much trouble coming up with arguments that sounded like what the man would say, and also because when he did manage to come up with something, it was way too convincing, so Qrow had to start anew.

First Glynda came by to check if everything was peaceful. Qrow would have been offended on behalf of his students if his ankle didn’t still remind him of yesterday’s disaster. Glynda surveyed the suddenly-quiet class, tapping the black wooden pointer on her palm. Qrow had no idea why she carried it with her, but it made her doubly intimidating, which was probably the point.

Finally, she nodded in reluctant approval and left the classroom. The clicking of her heels grew more distant, muffled by the closed door, and everyone let out a breath of relief.

No one wanted to be on Glynda’s bad side.

The next distraction came at lunch break in the face of Marrow’s excited smile as he brought another drawing to show Qrow. The distraction was only partial though, because it was another bird that he saw – guess what, during the weekend with his uncle. 

Even with the large black fingerprint around one of the legs, the stork was recognizable with minimal prompting, and Qrow ruffled the boy’s hair as he blabbered on about the weird long bird. He remembered the gentle look in Clover’s eyes as he made sure Marrow’s jacket was properly fastened, and the unfeigned joy at the boy’s proud declaration of how amazing Qrow was.

Right, back on topic, Mr… Qrow realized he only knew the man’s first name and that was probably an unfair familiarity, since Clover only addressed him as “Mr. Branwen”. But in Qrow’s head, he was stuck as Uncle Clover, almost like he was Uncle Qrow to his nieces, and there was a certain intimacy in sharing that title, as if it also meant sharing some sort of secret knowledge.

So that distraction ended up merely redirecting his thoughts on what sort of uncle Clover is. Qrow didn’t have much to go by, considering he’s heard about him for the first time yesterday and met him in person for a total of proud 5 minutes. Still, he’s been blessed with a rather active imagination, and as Marrow skipped back to his desk, Qrow decided to put it to good use.

He’d definitely be the sort of uncle to give Marrow piggyback rides. Was he a good cook? Qrow imagined Clover in the kitchen, wearing an apron over a t-shirt and some sweatpants, cooking pancakes for breakfast. Yeah, definitely a good cook. Probably spoiled Marrow, but in a decent way any cool uncle should do it.

Qrow knew Clover took Marrow on trips. Fishing trips. Did that say something about Clover? Maybe he should ask Tai.

What about Clover’s own family? Did he have siblings? Maybe younger, so he was good with kids… Or maybe a significant other and kids of his own? Qrow didn’t want to toss out the possibility, even if he wasn’t sure how the logistics of that were supposed to work, with him picking Marrow from school and especially with all the yesterday’s flirting.

It had to be flirting. It was so blatant that it had to be either flirting or a very unamusing prank, and Qrow had a hard time believing Clover had such a sense of humor.

It was also a little flattering, but Qrow would never admit that.

The final distraction came in the form of rapid knocking on the window glass by his side, followed by immediate gasping, cooing and other excited noises from the kids. Qrow turned to the window and found himself staring into the black eyes of a crow. Within seconds, the kids surrounded him to marvel at the bird. Even Marrow, who’d seen much more interesting birds a mere few days ago, was plastered to the glass, his tail wagging uncontrollably.

Qrow sighed and wondered if it was one of the birds he’d befriended and sometimes fed on his way to school. They sometimes brought him little gifts of junk, but this one seemed intent only on bothering him, the mischievous twinkle in its eyes reminding Qrow of Raven as she was about to have some fun at his expense.

Amidst all the noise Qrow felt a tug on his sleeve and looked down. A mop of red hair greeted him, the girl’s face hidden as she looked down while still holding the sleeve. Penny must have found the sudden burst of activity overwhelming, Qrow thought.

“Hey, Carrot,” he greeted warmly and the hair bobbed a little in greeting. “Do you want to look at the bird, too?” 

Penny nodded again and Qrow got up from his chair and helped her climb onto it, giving her an exclusive view of the window and the crow while keeping her away from the other kids’ elbowing and shouting. Penny smiled and immediately forgot everything as she became engrossed in observing the bird, pure joy on her face now that she was comfortable.

Qrow couldn’t continue with the lesson until the bird left with a satisfied  _ caw _ , but it was well worth it. 

After that the day was almost over. One by one, the parents, grandparents and siblings started trickling in to take their kids home. Qrow was making sure Elm didn’t strangle the indignant Harriet with her enthusiastic goodbye hug when he once again heard Marrow’s excited voice, “Uncle Clover!”

Qrow was ready. He was well and truly prepared to talk to Clover a bit more, like Clover promised the day before, but the universe hated him.

Nothing new, then.

First Clover said hello to Winter and  _ Winter smiled at him _ . It was a tiny, barely-there smile, but it was still a disturbing sight, because in all of his time Qrow has only caught her smiling twice, and it was always at her sister and never if Winter suspected she was being watched.

It also didn’t bode well for him, because Winter was rather outspoken about her unflattering opinion of Qrow. At least, she was very vocal to Qrow himself, so he imagined she had to be even more so to her friends. Still, Clover looked in Qrow’s direction and smiled wider, so maybe not all was lost.

Then Qrow’s own nieces strutted over to say goodbye to him, abandoning all pretence of him being “Mr. Branwen” and hugging him goodbye with a loud and distinct, “Bye, Uncle Qrow!”

“Your nieces are in your class?” Clover raised an eyebrow and Qrow wanted to squeeze his eyes shut and disappear. Ah, here came the accusation of bias. They weren’t academics, for Brothers’ sake! They were little kids, and Qrow loved them all dearly even if only two of his students called him Uncle. Grades for ten-year-olds were nonsense at the best of times, but it was only when Qrow started having to explain that no, it wasn’t something he invented especially for his nieces, he’d always approached the grading very liberally and was understanding and patient.

Wasn’t it enough that the kids learned? Wasn’t it enough that the kids had fun at the same time, and didn’t leave school exhausted and hating their teacher?

“You got a problem with that?” Qrow came as close to a growl as he would in the presence of kids.

Clover raised his hands in a placating gesture, chuckling with something akin to nervousness. “Whoa, whoa, just asking. Makes sense that you’re so good with kids, you must have had plenty of practice with those two?”

Qrow still felt the familiar rage of countless arguments and fights with parents and officials. It bubbled just under the surface, ready to blow up in a barrage of well-thought arguments and mindless passion, and Qrow forcefully pushed it all down. He felt just like yesterday when he’d tripped, off-balance and surprised, a kind of  _ Huh? Is this what’s happening? _ reaction he wasn’t sure what to do with.

“Uh. Yeah, I guess so. Ruby and Yang are a lot. In a good way!” He rushed to explain himself, “They’re just both very active. Ruby’s always running around and Yang is… fiery. Almost literally sometimes – and I swear it was Tai’s fault that time!..”

He trailed off, realizing that he probably wasn’t making a very convincing case for himself, but Clover was watching him with an interested expression.

“Who’s Tai?” he asked simply.

“Oh, he’s, um. My brother-in-law. Their dad.” The situation was probably more complicated than that, but Qrow wasn’t about to blurt out his whole sad life story to a stranger. 

Especially not in front of the kids.

“They seem to adore you,” Clover noted with an easy chuckle. “Not that I’m surprised, Marrow idolizes you and you’re not even related.”

Qrow bit the first reply that came to mind – there didn’t have to be a blood relationship for someone to be family. There was a time and a place for deep conversations, and it wasn’t at the end of the workday in a crowded hall. Instead, he just nodded.

“Can’t imagine what they still see in me, but I guess. Though I don’t really spend as much time with them as I’d like to.” 

Clover levelled him with an exasperated look that Qrow didn’t quite understand, then smiled brighter, delighted at the idea he’d just come up with. “Maybe you could join us this weekend! I’ll be taking Marrow to the zoo, he’s been itching to see more birds. I’m sure your nieces would love it, too.”

“Huh?” Qrow blinked, a little perplexed about the direction the conversation was taking.

“Yeah! You could spend some time with your nieces! We can figure out the time that works for you. Share some uncle wisdom?” Clover seemed awfully excited about the idea, but Qrow couldn’t help but be sceptical.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea… I’m still Marrow’s teacher, and just…” he trailed off, unsure what to say. In truth, the suggestion was tempting, but way too sudden. Clover once more managed to tear the rug from underneath Qrow’s feet, and he desperately held on to the remains of normalcy. 

“Well, you take kids on educational trips, don’t you? It’ll be just the same, just… smaller scale?” Clover paused, then his expression softened a bit. He looked over to where Marrow had almost finished putting on his coat. “Why don’t you think of it a bit more? Here, that’s my number, just drop a message if you come up with any questions.”

And Clover handed Qrow a small piece of paper with numbers neatly written on it before Marrow ran over to them and they had to go.

Qrow just stared after them for a solid minute until Mrs. Belladonna drew his attention with a delicate cough. Qrow shook his head and did his best to focus on his job.

It didn’t occur to him until he was back home that Clover had to have written that note in advance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope this story made someone smile :)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please visit my [tumblr](https://amber-aglio.tumblr.com/) for work updates, calligraphy and a bunch of Fair Game reblogs! And comments are, like always, appreciated.


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